Nordic Skiing World Cup Takes Place in Vuokatti

From 26 January to 3 February, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Nordic Skiing World Cup took place in Vuokatti, Finland.

For the second time, Vuokatti hosted an IPC Nordic Skiing World Cup. Over 180 athletes from 19 different countries participated in Cross-Country Skiing as well as Biathlon events. The most successful countries were Ukraine with seven victories and Belarus and Russia with five victories each.

German Verena Bentele and Ukraininan Vitaliy Lukyanenko (Visually Impaired category) as well as Irek Zaripov (Sitting category) from Russia, were the most successful athletes, each winning three different competitions. Bentele finished first in the Cross-Country Skiing Sprint, the 12.5km Biathlon event and the Biathlon Pursuit. Zaripov won the Cross Country Skiing Sprint and Middle Distance event and the Biathlon Pursuite and Lukyanenko won the Cross-Country Skiing Sprint, the 12.5km Biathlon and the Biathlon Pursuite. Other successful athletes include Brian McKeever (Visually Impaired category) from Canada, Olena Iurkovska and Yuliya Batenkova from the Ukraine and Liudmila Vauchok (Sitting category) and Yadviha Skarabahataya (Visually Impaired category) from Belarus, each taking home two victories.

After Isny (Germany), Vuokatti was the second stage of the IPC Nordic Skiing World Cup 2008. From 28 February until 2 March, Nes, Norway, will host the World Cup Finals of Cross-Country Skiing and Biathlon.